1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle vacuum cleaning system, and, more particularly, to a vacuum cleaning system for cleaning the interior of a vehicle, primarily a bus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operators of large passenger vehicle fleets such as buses, street cars and railroad cars are required to spend considerable time and money cleaning the interior of their vehicles to provide suitable transportation for passengers. Cleaning the interior of a large passenger carrying vehicle can be time consuming due to the close spacing and construction of passenger seats which make it difficult to reach certain areas of the floor and walls adjacent the seats with conventional cleaning equipment such as vacuum cleaners, brooms and the like.
Vacuum cleaning systems for the interior of large vehicles such as buses are known wherein a suction inlet is placed in contact with an access door and a worker manually utilizes a hose or other conduit connected to a source of compressed air to manually blow debris and other loose materials in the bus to the suction inlet for disposal in a suitable container. Such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,677,629 to William J. Buck and U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,409 to Jackie D. Greeley.
The prior art large vehicle vacuum cleaning systems require that an effective seal be maintained between an access opening such as a door and the suction inlet connected to a flow passage. Maintaining effective sealing engagement with and/or around such an access door can be difficult. Moreover, such prior art devices utilize relatively complicated mechanisms for maintaining sealing engagement between the suction inlet and a door.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum cleaning system for cleaning the interior of a passenger carrying vehicle such as a bus, which includes means for maintaining effective sealing engagement between an access opening or door of the vehicle and a suction inlet duct of the system.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle vacuum cleaning system for cleaning the interior of a passenger carrying vehicle such as a bus wherein access opening seals adjust automatically to form an effective air seal inside of the bus door and/or a portion around an outer edge of the access opening.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaning system for cleaning the interior of a passenger carrying vehicle such as a bus which includes means for manually discharging high pressure air into the interior of the vehicle to move debris and other loose material in the interior of the vehicle to a suction inlet of the system for collection and disposal.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a vacuum cleaning system for cleaning the interior of a passenger carrying vehicle such as a bus which is relatively simple in construction and economical in cost.
The present invention achieves the above and other objects by providing a vehicle vacuum cleaning system for cleaning the interior of a vehicle having an access opening therein, which has a movable bellows housing assembly. The bellows housing assembly includes a movable bellows frame having an inlet box with a suction air inlet opening attached thereto. A first pivotable sealing member is attached to one side of the bellows frame and a second pivotable sealing member is attached to an opposite side of the bellows frame. Each of the sealing members has a first sealing flap for engaging an inside edge of the vehicle access opening on one side thereof and a second sealing flap for engaging a portion around an outer edge of the access opening adjacent the one side. First and second spring means are provided for biasing the first and second sealing members into sealing engagement with the vehicle. The vacuum cleaning system further includes a duct connected to the suction air inlet opening and a motor driven fan connected to the duct for drawing air from the vehicle through the access opening and the suction air inlet opening whereby loose materials from the interior of the vehicle is removed by the air and discharged into the duct for collection in a suitable container. The system also includes a supporting frame work with the bellows housing assembly being movable with respect thereto by a pair of pneumatic cylinders connected between the bellows frame and the supporting frame work. A linear bearing assembly connected to the frame work and the bellows frame is provided on each side of the system.
The sealing flaps of the system are each comprised of a flap frame, a covered foam rubber stiffener attached to the frame, a flexible cord attached to an outer edge of the frame and an end cover made of a deep pile, fur-like material positioned over the flexible cord. Alternately the stiffeners may be of an inflatable construction. The system further includes a hose attached to a source of air under pressure and an air blaster gun having an air amplifier connected to an outer end of the hose whereby high pressure air may be discharged in the interior of the vehicle to facilitate movement of loose material from the interior of the bus to the suction air inlet opening.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description and drawings.